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Cassie laughed. “For someone who takes such beautiful photographs, you sure are blind.”
Gage looked at the kids. “Can we change the subject, please? Who’s going to watch the bands tonight?”
Lyric and Cassie both raised their hands.
He looked at Rose. “How about you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. If Dad’s free, maybe.”
“If your dad has to work. You can come hang out with me if you want. You can be my assistant.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool! I want to do that even if Dad isn’t busy.”
“I’ll talk to my brother and set it up.”
“Yay!”
Gage ate about half of his ice cream. Then Lyric split what was left between the kids. He looked around the table. “I’m going to go catch a nap before tonight. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” He got to his feet. “I’ll see most of you a little later.”
He checked in with Sydney one more time, then left the church and drove to the office. There was really no sense in going all the way home. His couch would do just fine for a quick nap.
He went into his office and sat on the couch, then removed his boots. He smiled at his socks. Aside from his family, Sydney was the one person who knew about some of his more obvious quirks. Now she knew about his socks. And everyone seemed to think she wanted to spend more time with him. He’d never do that to her. He liked her too much.
He laid down and removed the blanket from the back of the couch. As he covered himself and tried to relax and clear his mind, there was one thing he couldn’t quite shake. He did like Sydney. He rubbed his face. “Nope. Don’t go there.”And don’t think about her before you go to sleep. You’ll probably have another one of those dreams. And that didn’t work out so well the last time.He closed hiseyes and blew out a breath.Horses. Cows. The battle of the bands. Ice cream…Sydney.
“Dammit.”
Chapter six
"No making deals, no political favors, no crap."
When Gage heard someone calling him, he dragged himself into consciousness and opened his eyes. Sydney was standing next to the couch.
“Sorry. You were really out.”
He rubbed his eyes. “Still catching up from last night, I guess. Now I won’t be able to sleep tonight. Is it time to go?”
“Not quite. I brought you some dinner. Are you hungry?”
He sat up. “Yeah. I missed lunch somehow. Had that ice cream, though.”
“I brought you a chilidog from the café.”
“Oh, my gosh. That’s perfect.” He stood. “Just let me go wash my hands.” He went to the bathroom and washed his hands andface, then swept his hair back off his face with his wet hands. He stared at his reflection for a moment.You’re all good. Sydney is just Sydney. Nothingmore.
Gage returned to the couch and sat down. Then Sydney handed him the box with his food in it. He opened it and sighed. “I love Cassie’s chilidogs.” He cut into it with a fork and took a bite as Sydney watched him.
“Okay. That makes sense.”
“What makes sense?”
“Well, chilidogs are extremely messy food. And I was surprised when Cassie told me you loved them. But you have figured out how to eat it without dropping any chili on the front of your shirt.”
“Were you expecting me to drop chili on my shirt?”
